grant118

My Feedback: (26)

Have you tried gorilla glue brand wood glue? I love their poly glue and decided to try their yellow wood glue which cleans up with water. I used it to glue 1/16" thk balsa sheets together to sheet a foam wing. I really liked it. It dries fast and sands well.

kuade

My Feedback: (3)

I just got done building a PT-40 from Great Planes and I started off building the kit with Gorrilla glue that you are suggesting. The wood glue is super strong but it lacks the ability to seep into the pores of the balsa and greates a "thick" bond. The insta cure CA is more expensive and gives off fumes but it is a little easier to use than the wood glue.
If you want to use the wood glue in certain spots for a really strong bond I say go for it. However, I don't think you will build a very accurate and nice looking kit with wood glue. Then again this was my first kir...... Good luck.

Kuade

grant118

My Feedback: (26)

I agree 100% with what you are saying. Thin CA is great for general assembly. I have only used gorilla wood glue to glue balsa sheets together for a foam sheeted wing.
thanks,
chris

Gringo Flyer

My Feedback: (18)

I think its a lot easier to builf a nice straight kit with wood glue than CA. Wood glue gives you time to work were as CA bonds fast. With wood glue you can apply glue, setup the joint, pin it or weight it down, and then look it over a few times and make adjustments if needed.

Also, wood glue sands way better than CA. I use mostly wood glue but will use CA to help tack down important spots while the wood gue dries.

Get a fine tip applicator for the wood glue (I use titebond) and you can apply precise amounts. Plus its cheaper than CA and doesnt tear up your sinuses.

A lot of the really good builders prefer wood glue.

JustErik

No one would ever accuse me of being a really good builder, but I build with primarily wood glue for the same reasons Gringo cited.

jmv

I agree about wood glue (I use Titebond II). Maybe it is just me, but I find the fact that wood glue forces me to work more slowly is actually a plus. As a new builder, there have been more than a few times I have discovered a mistake and had time to correct it with wood glue. With CA, I would have be cutting new parts or perhaps even having to abandon a build.

huck1199

I like Elmer's yellow carpenter wood glue for balsa. I also use Locktite Summo poly glue in certain places (bad joints). The Summo is low foaming, less expansion than Gorilla glue.

Huck

grant118

My Feedback: (26)

How well does the summo glue finish sand? I like the way the gorilla poly glue sands even with contest grade balsa. But it does expand a lot

huck1199

I don't think Summo sands well. I use it where it won't show and when I don't want the parts to blow apart from expansion. I didn't think any poly glue sanded well. I don't consider poly glues all-around model glues. I use it for plastics (S.P.A.D. planes) with great success; especially on joing coroplast wings. I think it holds better than CA on Coroplast and PVC.

Huck

Herb Brown

My Feedback: (1)

If you want a really strong glue that will seep into wood pores, dries fast and sands similar to most of the yellow wood glues, try Titebond III. It is good!
Herb

WhiteRook

My Feedback: (38)

I USE Titebond , and in foward areas of the airplane, fuel tank, engine , etc , i use epoxy
C A fumes JUST burn my eyes and i cant use it, plus you have to wear gloves, because you cant get it off your hands. For gluing foam to balsa, i'm going to try west systems epoxy from now on.

42etus

My Feedback: (2)

A fellow club member used Gorilla Glue to glue in a landing gear plate that he had knocked out on a not so good landing. The glue held great until he got fuel on it. It then reminded me of wet foam rubber. The landing gear nearly fell out under it's own weight. I won't use it on any of my planes.
Paul

bipeguy03

I'm going to have to sheet some foam cores for my next build, a lanier cap 232. I was wondering if the Titebond III is good choice for this. Its my first time building a foam wing so I'm hoping to have some luck the first time around!

OldRookie

My Feedback: (13)

I would agree with using Titebond glue for general construction. I think it makes a lot stronger glue joint than the instant glues. I would suggest using the regular Titebond instead of the Titebond II, where the glue joint will have covering on it. The Titebond II doesn't sand quite as well as the regular Titebond.
I don't think I would use the Titebond to laminate sheeting or for applying wing skins. Seeing as it is a water base glue, it has a tendency to warp balsa when used for laminating. I had a horizontal stabilizer, that I tried to apply the wing skins with Titebond glue. The part was weighted down wile drying, and still had a twist when it dried. I had to rebuild a new one.
I have a Fazer that I use for fun fly type of events, that was completely built with Titebond. This plane has had several crashes that would have splattered some planes, and the Fazer only sustained minor damage. I have actually had comments as to the toughness of this plane.

Greg

grant118

My Feedback: (26)

For sheeted wings, there was an excellent article in Model Aviation Mag 1 month ago. Look it up. The author used epoxy that he applied a small bead in a checkerbord pattern. I did the same thing using Gorilla glue (the polyurthane type not wood glue type) and had really good results. The glue expands into the foam and balsa for a really strong bond. Good luck and read that article when you get a chance.
chris

bipeguy03

Hey I think I remeber that artical, I guess I got to go look for that book! Thanks for the help!

grant118

My Feedback: (26)

Old rockie is right about wing warping. Aliphatic resin (yellow wood glue) has a lot of moisture in it that will warp blasa when it dries.

Broken Wings

My Feedback: (20)

I use regular White Elmers Glue All...as well as epoxy,CA,etc.

I was a non-believer until I tried it. Tom Morris (retired) used to build the most beautiful control line stunt models for resale to the general public as well as parts tools, etc. I ordered one of his models and after it arrived I called him and asked what kind of glue he used. His answer was regular ole Elmer's Glue All.

Here is a link to one of his articles on building a ladder crutch fuselage. These "Stunt" models use Ro-Jett & PA engines on tuned pipes and take alot of "forces" so they have to be light weight and strong , notice in the center of the page he states. Note: I use Elmer's Glue All for gluing all parts.

http://www.clcentral.com go to General C/L info and click on the Tom Morris Link.

I've tried the Yellow glues and they work as well but the Regular Elmer's dries clear and will accept any finish that I've ever used.

I think it works better on Balsa than the yellow glues but try it out on some scrap and see if you can tell the difference. There is some interesting Google search info on white Glue as well.

Disclaimer: I have no desire to try and persuade anyone from using any type(s) of glue that they want to build thier models. This post is for informational purposes only...Use what works for you

Vinnie6

I have used Sig Core Bond with great success in applying wing sheeting to foam cores. [link]http://www.sigmfg.com/IndexText/SIGCB001.html

My good friend uses expanding gorilla glue on his Carden big birds, but uses literally hundreds of pounds of weight to make the glue penetrate and not just push the balsa away from the foam.

Rudolph Hart

I love the smell of the epoxy i'm using..

carlosponti

My Feedback: (1)

I am not a great builder but I use wood glue because of several reasons. 1 being that I have to use it in my workshop for my other hobby. 2 it doesnt smell that bad. 3 it helps me slow down and do things right and help me think out cuts and placement etc. Not that I am against other glues it my preferred way. Selecting glue is more like your choice in ice cream you will get so many varied answers.

Alex7403

I'm using TiteBond III when ever I can over CA and it does penetrate into gaps between pieces pretty good, i use Q-tips to spread it and direct it.
And the total build is much faster with TiteBond glue then with CA because there are several things (that I don’t miss) when using CA like glued plans to the plane, I got more sensitive to CA fumes, adjusting the fan, goggles, respiratory mask, and I had to wait for the CA to cure as well.
There are parts that you must use CA but im trying to avoid it if I can.

Alex